A Boston College sports blog capturing the highs and lows of being a BC fan living 1,000 miles from Chestnut Hill.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Signs of life

Beating a struggling Miami team was nice but not the reason for my excitment tonight. The reason for optimism is the comeback. Down 17 in the second half, the guys finally pulled it together. There were also some lessons for tonight.

Lesson 1.It is execution, not talent. This was our five during the start of the comeback -- Jackson, Roche, Raji, Dunn, Elmore. Trapani replaced Elmore later down the stretch, but those six guys did most of the heavy lifting. How did they do it? Patience. They worked shot clocks and found good looks. They also played good D. I don't think those are our best players. Not by any stretch. But I think they proved that Al's schemes can still work. It is about getting through to the players.

Lesson 2.The offense needs to revolve around Jackson. Jackson is not Bell or Rice, but we can use him in that role. He can create his own shot in or out of the offense. He can penetrate and allow guys like Raji and Trapani to get putbacks.

Lesson 3.We should trap more. I don't think we need to press on every possesion, but putting a little more pressure on Miami worked in the first half. If we had done that more against some of the midmajors, we might have a different perspective on the season.

32 comments:

Was at the game tonight and you forgot to add Sanders to the list of second half contributors. Raji barely sniffed the second half. Paris only came in for foul shots with under a minute to play. Southern didn't return after 4 fouls and Ravenel also sat the entire second half. Give credit to Al for sticking with the hot hands.

Watching Reggie run the "offense" and dominate possessions brought back memories of Ty Rice. Even though he's not as deadly of a shooter, Reggie may be more dynamic.

I agree, Jackson is not a true point, but his overall game is so, so, soooooooooo much better than Backup Paris, it's not even funny.

You could tell all the media criticism and blogosphere barbs got to these guys, they played with effort for the first time since South Carolina. Still some lapses, but a win is a win, and I'll take it.

Mild criticism of Skinner - the press was working, why abandon it? I think it energizes these guys a little, which is the kick in the pants they need to play a little defense. Still worried about the D though, especially that of Paris, whatta lazy buffoon he is. He just does not get back in transition, it's almost laughable watching him give up as soon as someone gets a step on him. Lazy oaf Sanders was a little better today on that front, but still very much a work in progress.

Forgive me for starting with a negative comment.... but Sanders does not deserve to see the court anymore. I thought he played absolutely terribly again with regards to effort and teamwork.

And I know this comment is rather obvious, but this win belongs to Reggie. He took the game over like Tyrese had been known to do... it's the first time this year that we've had a guard take control like and have his way with the defense on so many possessions in a row. It seems that although Al was reluctant to put the non-true PG in charge of his offense, he has no choice. He is now left with the raw Jackson... RJ's performance will fluctuate, but his upside is so far beyond Paris that he must handle the ball.

Good minutes by Roche tonight... great minutes by Joe -- he played his butt off and kept us in the game throughout, just so Reggie had the chance to shine.

Kudos to Dunn for having enough defense down the stretch... Ravenal just looks a little slow out there.

For a lot of this game, the defense was playing flat-footed and was a step slow. We can thank Sanders for that, in my opinion. They definitely picked up the intensity, and you could see the emotions of this team.

They desperately needed the W.... not sure what made the positives happen, but who cares. That's for the coach to figure out, and keep the momentum going. VA Tech is up next... let's pull to .500 in the conference.

And agreed atl... nice job by Skinner to create some turnovers (at least 3 quick ones at the start) with his trapping... a good adjustment, and letting the kids work hard. Picking up the tempo a little bit can hopefully keep the team a little more active on defense, and increase their energy for longer periods of time.

wasn't able to watch, but from the box score, two things jump out - 19 assists to 5 TOs. That is huge. If we can take care of the ball like that, we will win a few more.

Also, this isn't saying much, but shooting 33% from beyond the arc is actually a decent improvement, if they can get that % up a little higher, these two aspects combined with better effort can make us dangerous again.

yes, only liberal-minded people care about others. right. a monopoly on compassion. of course.

could we get back to what is really dividing this nation? al skinner's 'stache, spaz's 'stache, and the remarkable underachievement (thus far) of a bball team that should be better than it is against any team not named miami.

To call Brown stupid only demonstrates your own immaturity and pettiness. The general consensus is that not only did Brown give an eloquent speech last night, he also destroyed Coakley in their debate.

While I in no way agree with the politics of Senator Kerry or the late Tip O'Neill, I am not embarrassed in any way that are alumni of BC, nor would I consider them "stupid" just because they happen to share different opinions than I do. I'm PROUD that my alma mater produces people that succeed at such high levels.

Furthermore, your statement illustrates what's wrong with the Democratic party in general, and also why Coakley lost. You assume that any person who thinks differently than you (i.e. a Republican) is stupid and uneducated. This unfounded arrogance was the downfall of Coakley, and will be downfall of this current administration. The American people are voicing their frustrations, I doubt they are all "stupid".

Ryan -- Maybe you can respect the words of a leading journalist and NFL commentator about just who Brown is. Don't be so proud of this guy. I know exactly how the Dixie Chicks felt about bush.

Here is how Keith Olbermann aptly described your hero Scott Brown:

“In short, in Scott Brown we have an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, teabagging supporter of violence against woman and against politicians with whom he disagrees. In any other time in our history, this man would have been laughed off the stage as an unqualified and a disaster in the making by the most conservative of conservatives. Instead, the commonwealth of Massachusetts is close to sending this bad joke to the Senate of the United States.”

This is my last comment on the issue, because you're too insufferably annoying to reasonably debate anything with. You only can associate "Republican" with "right wing" and "Fox News". Why you think that I have no idea, only that you must be as brainwashed into stereotyping as the people who think Fox News is gospel.

"[I]t's also a shame when you see someone sound like a moron and think to yourself '[M]an, my degree is from the same place that guy got his.'"

I probably would agree if I knew how to see someone sound like something. It's exacly that type of liberal elitist stupidity that won Brown the election. Keep it up, numbnuts. Frankly, I can't believe my degree is from the same place as that of a guy who can't find the caps key when starting a sentence. And to quote Olberman is to quote a mental patient. The guy is the biggest douche on TV and not nearly as bright as he thinks he is.

Olbermann is the Goebbels of the Left. Not a good guy to cite to support anything other than the Cuban revolution. But, free country and all that...

I guess I'll have to start capitalizing my posts. I feel guilty.

Shall we get back to attacking each other over the above-averageness of the BC athletic program?

Only other thing I'll say about the Miami win is I'm skeptical that we've turned any corner, but remain hopeful that someone will tell Rakim that the season started two months ago. If there are any current BC students in class with him, give him a nudge just to make sure he's still alive.

In my opinion, Sanders is not experiencing any effects from the injury.

Coming into this season, he bulked up a little bit. Now his upper body is as big as his behind. As a result, he looks a little slower out there, and he's playing D more flat-footed than ever before. He also looks like the effort and confidence are in the dumps together. Hopefully they will come out together, as well.

If he wanted to bulk up and play on the block occasionally, that would be acceptable. But he rarely plays with his back to the basket, even though he creates a serious mismatch when he does. While he is slower than most swingmen, he is also stronger. And if they put a 4 on him, he would be quicker.

Which brings us to the problem of him shooting 3s. He wants to be a star, he wants more than 2 points per shot... he wants points without working for them in the offense. He hasn't really improved his play since he has come to BC back in 2007... same one move, same dribbling skills.... same shuffle of the feet before he starts moving (even if they don't call it on him as often as they used to).

He just doesn't look like he is in the flow out there. Hopefully the team will be more cohesive as the time goes on, and guys will be more comfortable in their roles. Players need to start settling into roles pretty soon if we are going to go on a run. I hope that Sanders is a part of that run... but I also hope that Skinner sits his butt on the bench if he doesn't buy into the system, and the greater good (with the politics on this blog recently... anyone care to debate the idea of communism?). He weighs us down too much with his laziness and lack of mental commitment to the team goal.

With all that being said.... I have a positive feeling in my stomach for the first time in awhile with this team.... let's get a big road win on Saturday at VA TECH!!!

another possibility is that rakim's bulk has thrown off his shot mechanics. i am nowhere close to as knowledgeable as i would like to be on matters such as this, but i would be interested to hear what someone who had the time to look at his shot would have to say.

i overheard someone say recently that he seemed not only to have different form from a year ago, but also that his form fluctuates within an individual game itself. anyone see any truth to this?